Says Cavanagh, "May 1 is known as Worthy Wage Day for early childhood educators (ECE's), and no one is more deserving of an increase in their wages than ECE's here in Nova Scotia who are the lowest paid in the country. This should be an embarrassment to our province."

CUPE Child Care Co-ordinator Naomi Stewart says, "This day has been put aside by the profession to raise awareness about the unacceptably low wages of child care workers. CUPE ECE's and the thousands of other workers in this sector have had their wages and working conditions ignored for far too long.

"We will encourage our locals and our 18,000 members to participate in the NSCCA's letter writing campaign to their local MLA and to ministers in the McNeil Cabinet," says Stewart.

Cavanagh says CUPE has taken on the issue of fair wages for child care workers - and is advocating for a move to a public child care system like they have in Quebec. Details on the CUPE campaign can be found at www.RethinkChildcare.ca.

According to the NSCCA, the median salary of Early Childhood Educators in Nova Scotia is $12.84 per hour. Most of those employees lack retirement benefits or health benefits.